I Am Not A Machine
by TheLastSiren
Summary: A miracle occurs when Blade, an alien clone, is sent to the Plumbers to be rasied by none other then Rook. Yet, Blade grows twice as fast as a normal house cat and grows to the size of a tiger! His best friend, Kenny, (Ben's son) grows up beside Blade, and comes to realize that not all cats have nine lives ...
1. The Beginning

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

From the very beginning he knew he was different, but that never slowed the tiny thing down. Sure, he was a mutant, was born without legs, and his own mother had abandoned him at birth, but that never stopped him from having a bright smile on his face and tackling the world.

His name was Blade, which had in a way been a family name. Something was different about Blade, though. He had been a test subject baby, or kitten, if you will. In attempts to clone the 'original' Blade, the DNA of the dying alien cat was taken and cloned to be birthed by a common house cat of Earth. Thankfully, the cloning had been a sucess, but it had gone horribly wrong. The kitten was born without it's front legs and the mother had instantly rejected it, knowing that the kitten was different.

This kitten was named after the original, who had been named Blade. The first Blade had quickly died after having it's DNA taken, being too sick to survive. If the cloning hadn't been a sucess, then the species would have been completely wipped out. However, the new Blade was born and was pronounced the last of it's kind.

However, there was something odd about this kit, and not just because it didn't have two of it's legs. Instead, this kitten seemed to grow faster then it was meant to. The species that had been found on another planet was said to live just about as long as humans, but this clone only lived half as long as a common house cat of Earth. This was proven to be something strange, though, considering that the cat was bound to grow to the size of a tiger.

Blade had the pattern of a tabby, but he looked almost like a tiger. His head and back were a light grey-blue and his stomach was a creamy white. Besides his ability to grow fast and being born without front legs, he was a complete copy of the original Blade. Well, almost. The original Blade had both brilliant, bright blue eyes, but the new Blade only had one blue eyes, and the other was a bright yellow.

When the lab had been discovered, or ratted out, animal rights activists and Plumbers had stepped in. Animal rights people had at first fought for the kitten, but seeing that it was an alien species, the Plumbers naturally got to keep it. Now all that was needed to be done was find the kitten a new mother. Finding one was harder then anyone had thought. Since Blade was now the last of his species, there wasn't any other of it's kind to take it in.

However, the kitten needed a mother as soon as possible. The closest thing to a cat at the time was one of the Plumbers, but this Plumber wasn't a mother, let alone female. Rook Blonko, partner to Ben Tennyson, had been suggested by a few others to temperary take in the kitten. He hadn't been forced to, but Rook couldn't turn the kitten down. After all, it was just temperary, right?

Well, Blade been much more then Rook had bargined for. No one knew what the kitten was really capiable of doing, but as soon as the kitten was old enough to open it's eyes and walk with it's new prostetic legs, a surprise had surfaced: Blade could speak. Just like any human child with their mother, all Blade needed to do was listen to Rook speak to learn how to talk. Everyone had been surprised, but Rook had been overjoyed and even proud.

At this point, people had seen that Rook was already in love with Blade, and was already seeming to raise Blade as if he were his own child. Well, at this point he was. After all, the first word Blade ever said was 'daddy'. That being said, Rook and Blade were bound to stay together.

At the time, Ben already had his own son, Kenny. Him and his wife, Kia, lived together and raised their son together. Kenny had just turned fourteen when Blade was born, and had been extremely intrested in the kitten when it was born. Considering Rook and Ben would always work together, Kenny would always get to see Rook with his 'son'. Kenny at the time had even thought that Blade really was Rook's son, thinking they kind of looked alike.

Once when Kenny was smaller, he had had a cat, too. He had actually gotten the cat when he was just a baby and grew up with it. The one thing he had learned about life from a young age was that things died. A thing about cats that he had learned was that when they were old or sick, they often went to a completely cool and quiet place to die. He had found his cat, Whiskers, under his bed that sad day. His mom had held him in her arms and comforted her son while Ben took Whiskers away to be burried out in an open field.

Little did Kenny know that Blade wasn't going to now only grow up to be a Plumber, but his very best friend.

* * *

"Dad!" a small voice peeped out. "Dad! Wake up! Come on!"

Back at Pumber base, Rook rolled over in his bunk bed and silently moaned, feeling metal feet poking at him uncomfortably. Rook just covered his head with his pillow and tried to block out his son's words, but he knew he had to get up soon, or else Blade would wake up the entire base.

"Dad!" Blade growled, crashing into his Dad's side. "You promised!"

Rook peeped out from behind his pillow to see blue and yellow eyes glaring at him. Sighing, Rook slowly at up in bed. "Alright, alright. I'm up."

"Yeah!" Blade cheered, turning to jump with glee but suddenly falling off the top bunk and clashing to the ground, his legs not functioning quite right. Rook was still half asleep to process what had just happened.

* * *

"I'm getting new legs! I'm getting new legs!" the youngster chantted as he bounded through the base with Rook trailing close behind.

Rook couldn't help but cracking a small grin. He couldn't get over how fast his son was growing. It seemed just like yesterday Blade was nothing more then a tiny kitten feeding off bottle milk. Now, he was talking, eatting, and the size of a house cat. He had just gotten new legs a while ago, but Rook had already planned on visiting Azmyth and getting him new ones, seeing that Blade grew too fast for Rook to keep up with getting him new legs over and over again.

Blade was about a half a year old now, but he had the mind of a five year old child. He was learning fast, too. Rook could hardly keep up with him. Just seeing him grow so fast made him sad, but he tried not to let his son's growth rate bother him. It wasn't about what was to come in the future, but was in the present that mattered most of all.

Rook picked up his speed to catch up with Blade, reaching over to grab his son's scruff. Blade gave a playful squeal of delight as Rook lifted him over his head to sit up on his shoulders. Blade happily sat up on Rook's shoulders and rested his fake paws on his father's head.

Blade's current legs were kind of old looking, seeing as they were old and rusted. Still Blade loved them because they were 'new' and fit better then his older ones. His paws had only three points for walking, but he didn't mind. After all, Rook had promised Blade that they would visit Azmyth this day to get new legs, and that they would look like real cat's legs and paws.

Rook knew he shouldn't have made a promise as detailed as that, but he wanted only the best for Blade. He loved to see his son happy, after all.

"Hey, Dad?" Blade asked.

"Yeah?"

"What's Galvin Prime like?"

"Big and complicated." a voice answered behind them.

Rook turned to see Ben with a smug grin. Rook just grinned back, but he still seemed tired. He had had a long night. Just getting Blade to go to sleep had been a chore.

"Basically ..." Rook sighed.

Not too long after Ben had appeared, his son came up behind him. Kenny, who had just turned fourteen, gave a wide grin to see Rook and Blade. "Hi, Blade."

"Hi, Ken!" Blade greeted back with glee. "Guess what?"

"What?" Ken asked, intrested.

"I'm going to Galvin Prime!" Blade squealed, as if he were going to some place wonderful.

"What? Why?" Ken asked.

"I'm getting new legs!" the cat said for the millionth time.

"Again?"

"Yep!" Blade purred, nuzzling his muzzle against the side of Rook's head, making Rook chuckle.

Turning to Rook, Ben raised an eyebrow. "This is a for sure thing?"

"Yeah." Rook sighed. "We'll be back in a few days, if not sooner."

"Alright." Ben replied. "Be back soon, then."

"Bye, Blade!" Kenny waved away.

"Bye!"

* * *

Rook and Blade had only been gone for a couple days. When they returned, Blade sported the best pair of legs he had ever had. They were still metal, but they looked so real. His legs were smooth and clean looking and his toes moved and wiggled just like real ones. The best part of all, though, was the fact that his new legs would grow when he did. The worst side effect was that when he grew he would have horrible growth pains, but it was all worth it to have legs he could live with his entire life.

"They have claws, too!" Blade explained to Kenny at the base, walking beside his friend while their fathers were off doing other business. "They're retractable, just like real ones!"

"That's awesome, dude." Kenny chuckled. "So ... you're going to have these legs forever?"

"Yep." the cat purred with delight. "They'll grown when I grow. It's a weird kind of space metal, I guess."

"Cool." Kenny mused.

Rook was glad he didn't ever have to worry about getting new leg for Blade, but he knew from then and there that he would have to watch his son and his new legs grow as time went by. Time to Blade would seem to go by slow, but to Rook and everyone else, time would seem to go by fast. Rook wasn't the only who seemed to love Blade, though. No one could bare to live without him, and no one could stand seeing him grow up so quickly as time went on.

* * *

**Here's the first chapter to my newest story! I already have up to fifteen chapters finished, but I don't want to post them all at once. Maybe twice a week will be fine.**

**Anyway, this story is going to have many chapters, and will be heart filled. There will be action, love, friendship, and heart breaking moments here and there. I plan on having a bitter sweet ending, too.**

**Ben 10 Omniverse (c) Cartoon Network**

**'I Am Not A Machine' (c) me.**


	2. Best Friends

**Chapter 2: Best Friends**

Lurking in the shadows, Blade made sure that his friend wouldn't see him. He grinned wickedly as he approached his unsuspecting victum. Just like he had been taught by his father and other Plumbers, Blade kept light on his feet as he stalked through the shadows slowly. He kept his head low and his balance steady, ready to pounce. Right when he saw Kenny standing out in the grass at the park, he crouched low and got ready to spring. Ater a moment, he lept forward and leapt out.

Ken quickly turned around, but it was too late. Blade crashed into him with laughs and giggles, knocking Ken to the ground. Ken just wiggled around under Blade's steal paws, but Blade just gave a chuckle as he released his friend, moving away.

"You shouldn't be so careless." Blade chuckled, sitting on his hunches.

Blade at this point was a year old, but in cat years, he was still younger then Kenny. He grew up with his father, though, so he sometimes seemed more mature then he really was. Yet, his best friend was Ken, knew he wasn't always so serious.

"I'm not careless." Ken defended. "You snuck up on me and tackled me to the ground like I was prey."

"If we were in the wild ..." Blade started, but Kenny stopped him.

"Let me stop you right there. If we were in the wild, I would be the human with the bow and arrow and knife, and you would be the feral animal being hunted by me, not the other way around."

Shrugged his shoulders, Blade licked his paw and drew it over his head. "Fair point." After a moment of silence, Blade perked up his ears. "Hey! You're turning fifteen in a couple days, right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ken exclaimed, getting to his feet. "I am, I guess."

There was another awkward silence before Blade spoke again. "I went running through some fields a few days ago."

"Oh, yeah?" Kenny mused.

"Yeah ..." Blade muttered, looking down and shuffling his paws awkwardly. "I mean, I run in the mornings a lot, anyway. My springs sometimes get caught from sleeping. But anyway, I was off running some place new when I ran by a field that was somewhere behind your old house."

Kenny already knew where this was going, but he prayed it wasn't what he thought it was. "Really?"

"Yeah." the other continued. "Anyway, I found something, and I started to wonder ... what it's like."

"What what's like?" Kenny asked.

"What it's like to lie to rest." Blade explained. "I mean, I heard cats look for a nice place to rest before ..."

"Dude, stop." Kenny interrupted.

"What?"

"Don't talk like that." Kenny sighed. "I mean, you shouldn't even have to worry about that for a long time."

"I know!" the cat defended. "I ... was just wondering is all." After another few seconds, he spoke up, again. "Did you know there's a shed by that field?"

"Yeah ..." Kenny whispered, remembering seeing the shed when he was little and was visiting his cat's old grave.

Blade stretched his limbs and moved around a little. "I liked it. It was warm and cozy."

* * *

The next couple days went by as usual, but once Kenny's birthday came along, there was something wonderful to celebrate. Blade had had the best time of his life just leaping into the Tennyson's back pool and doggy paddling. Unlike most cats, he loved water. Another thing he loved was cake.

Rook had been there, too. He and Ben had talked and laughed while Blade and Ken had their own fun. The day had seemed perfect. That had to be the last perfect day that there was.

* * *

**I'm just starting to slowly foreshadow ...**

**Ben 10 Omniverse (c) Cartoon Network**

**'I Am Not A Machine' (c) me.**


	3. Battles

**Chapter 3: Battles**

Walking through the Plumber base was none other then Blade. His long legs moved elegantly as he moved with stride. The cat had grown so much in just the year and a half. Well, almost two years to be exact. He had grown so much in just this time. He had grown up beside his father and was raised to be a Plumber. He just knew it in his heart that one day he was going to be as great as Rook, if not better.

At this point, Blade was around the same age as his best friend, Ken Tennyson. Ken at this time was now sixteen. Ken had celebrated his sixteen birthday party with his family like he did last year, but this time not with Blade or Rook. Both had been off on a special mission in another galaxy. Although Blade wasn't offically a Plumber yet, he sometimes tagged along on missions with his dad just to get ready and to get pointers.

Yet, as Blade seemed to get older by the months, he only got more and more serious about becoming a Plumber. Sure, Ken wanted to be a Plumber, too, but he still wanted to be a teenager. He seemed to play it by year, whereas Blade played it by months, if not weeks. Although Blade aged faster, Ken found it strange that Blade would purposely try to grow up. Ken just wanted to continue being a happy, stupid teenager.

However, Blade was seeming to grow up faster then his friend by the day, training and continuing to take pointers form other Plumbers. It wouldn't be long before he finally got his Plumber's badge.

Kenny had been at the base when he saw Blade striding by. He had to take a second look to realize how big his friend was getting. Blade was now the size of a small puma. The way he moved reminded Ken of a puma, too.

"Yo, Blade!" Ken called out.

Blade turned to Kenny, cocking his head and sitting down on his hunches. "Hello, Ken."

"What's up, man?" Ken asked, cracking a smile. "I heard you turned two."

Blade chuckled. "Yeah. I guess I'm sort of in a way the same age as you. Before you know it, I'll be older then my dad."

"Yeah ... that's going to be a while, buddy." Ken snickered. "Anyway, I was thinking you and I could go on a mission together sometime. You know, for real this time."

Blade seemed to tense up for a moment, his ears flicking. Ken had already gotten his Plumber badge, but only because he was Ben Tennyson's son. Yet, even thought Blade had worked his tail off on trying to be the most perfect Plumber and son, he was still a ways away from getting his badge. He saw this as unfair, but he never said anyting about it. After all, Ken was still his friend. "Uh ... sure."

"You don't seem so sure about that ..." Ken mumbled.

"No. I'm up for it." Blade assured his friend. "I need to go on a mission without my dad for once, anyway."

"Cool." Ken exclaimed, a little too excited. "My dad's a little backed up on missions at the moment, so we can just take one of his held up missions."

"Sounds good." Blake purred. In truth, Blade was glad to take this chance to get another mission in and possibly spread his wings out and away from his father for a little while. "When do we go?"

"Sunset." Ken said, knowing that Blade had trouble with telling time. "Just meet me at my house. Try not to scare my mom this time, alright?"

"Yeah, sure." Blade joked. "I'll be there at sunset."

* * *

The thing about Blade was that he didn't really know how to determine 'time'. Well, that was both good and bad. Time seemed to go by faster to him then to other people, but he didn't really keep track of time, anyway. He just went by the sun and the seasons.

By the time that Blade got to his friend's house, Ken was in his room getting ready to go on the simple mission. He wasn't by the door when he friend got there. Blade got frustrated when he scratched at the door and no one answered, so he went for the open window. Once he was inside the Tennyson house, he sat on the couch and waited for Kenny to be finished with whatever he was screwing around with.

Ken may have told Blade to not scare his mother, but there was no avioding it. When Kia entered the living room to see the large cat sitting on her couch, she took a quick step back and bit back a frightened scream. Ben was in the kicthen, though, and heard the queak. He quickly came out to check on his wife, but stopped himself when he saw that it was just Blade sitting on the couch. He smirked and turned down the hall.

"Ken!"

"Is Blade here?" Kenny called from his room.

"Yeah. Hurry up!" Ben yelled back, turning back to the living room.

Blade jumped down from the couch, suddenly remembering that Mrs. Tennyson didn't like Blade and dogs sitting on her couch. Blade at first had been offended by this, but he soon learned that he sometimes shed and would leave hairs here and there.

Ken came from his room and saw his friend sitting on the floor. Yet, something caught his eye. He looked down to see what was hanging around Blade's neck and saw it was a pocket watch. This confused him, but he chose to ignore it. For now.

"Ready?" Ken asked, grabbing the keys off the coffee table.

"Yes." Blade answered, turning towards the door, waiting for his friend to open it. Once Ken opened the door, Blade dashed outside and trotted out towards the car while Ken shut the door behind him. Once both friends had gotten into the car and were situated, Ken turned towards his cat friend with a questioning look.

"What's that pretty thing hanging around your neck?"

"A pocket watch."

"Well, yeah." Ken chuckled, rolling his eyes and starting the car. "I mean, where'd you get it?"

"My dad." Blade answered plainly. "He went to visit Azmyth so he could return the favor he owed for my legs and Azmyth ended up giving him this old thing. I don't know what's so special about it, but my dad didn't want it, so he gave it to me."

"Oh." Ken mused. "I forgot you got your legs from Azmyth. I haven't seen that guy in forever."

Blade just shrugged. "Well, I didn't go with my dad to Galvin Prime, so I didn't get to see him. I guess he's doing alright."

"Nice." Ken commented, turning the car out of the drive-way.

After a while of driving, they had finally gotten to where they needed to be. There wasn't much of a 'mission' to do. The two of them were just to sit in the car and stake out a warehouse, guarding it just in case anyone tried to rob it. There had been people saying that there was going to be a robbery, but Ken douted that there was going to be one. He just wanted to hang with his best bro.

Blade lied his front paws on the dashboard and let out a tired yawn. "So ... what's going on with you?"

Ken just sighed. "Nothing really. School still sucks. I'd rather just train at HQ all day, like you."

Chuckling, Blade burried his muzzle in his paws. "What about your girlfriend?"

Sighing, again, Kenny lied back in his seat. "We broke up."

"Oh." Blade mused, feeling both sad and awkward. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Ken assured. "I mean, things weren't working out, anyway. I guess I should have listened to you when you said she smelled like trouble."

"If trouble had a scent, she'd have it, I swear!" Blade growled. "I know I'm not crazy ..."

Hearing a loud clattering sound, the two friends both looked out towards the warehouse. All seemed still enough, but Blade was determined to look and check that everything really was alright.

Hopping out of the car, Blade made his way towards the warehouse, sniffing at the ground and walking lightly on his paws. Ken was close behind him, trying to be as quiet as possible. He swallowed a hard lump in his throat as he followed his friend in the dark.

Once they got to the warehouse back doors, they found that the door was ajar. Blade carefully nudged it open with his muzzle, walking right in. Ken stood back for a moment, but then saw his friend come back out a moment later.

"You wait here. I'm going to sniff around." Without waiting for Ken's response, Blade walked back inside the warehouse.

Looking around the warehouse, Blade sniffed and listened as best as he could. After a while, he found a scent. He wasn't sure what it was at first, but he was quickly reminded what it was once he heard a loud growl and bark. He turned away from the sound, but was caught by another in the opposite direction. He yowled out in fright, backing up into something heavy and cold. The whole place was so dark he couldn't see anything at all, but he knew he had bumped into something tall, because it fell over with a loud clatter and made any dogs behind him yelp out in fright.

The dog that had been in front of him seemed almost as confused as Blade at that moment, though. It wiggled and whinned, trying to pin point it's pack. Suddenly, the large dog turned to see Blade there, a blue and yellow eye glaring back at him. Before he dog could so much as flinch, Blade roared in furry and sent his bladded paw flying at the dog's head. He hadn't even been thinking when he did the action. He didn't even know he could roar, for that matter. He just really hated dogs.

He heard a loud scream from the dog as if fell back and scrambled away, tail between it's leg's. Blade felt proud for a moment, but then he remembered there were others. Not only did he now smell and hear dogs, but he heard people in the arehouse yelling and shouting at each other. He could also hear the screeching sound of tires outside.

'Ken?' he wondered.

There wasn't enough time for the cat to think, again, as another dog came out of nowhere. Blade hadn't even been ready for the attack. All he felt was something big and heavy set slamming into his side, almost knocking him off his feet. There were sharp teeth digging into his ear, ripping and tearing. Blade quickly pulled away, yowling in pain and fright.

His ear bled and blinded his side eye, making him slightly faint. Blade really hated blood. Shaking his head, Blade turned and tried to make his way back towards the opening of the warehouse, but found that it was blocked by other people, none of them being Ken. He suddenly became more then frightened.

However, Blade suddenly realized that he was to fight his way out. He wasn't going to lose an ear just because Ken hadn't stepped in. Growling, Blade turned back in the direction he had ran and found the dog that had torn his ear. Letting out a roar, he watched as the dog suddenly turned chicken. Blade chased it, though, knowing that the dog would run in the direction of the exit. Hopefully.

Once Blade suddenly saw the light of outside, he smirked to himself. Bounding faster, he made his way towards the opening, seeing that the dog he had been chasing had taken a different turn and was trying to hide.

'Coward.' Blade thought ruefully to himself.

Blade slipped out of the crack in the warehouse wall, seeing that there had once been something blocking it. Perhaps this was how the burglars got in the first place. At this point, Blade was just trying to find Ken.

"Ken?" Blade called out, looking for his friend. "Ken, where are you?"

"Over here!" Ken called, out by the front of the warehouse.

Ignoring the blood dripping down the side of his face, Blade bounded over to his friend, seeing the horrified look on his face.

"Dude, what happened to your face?" Ken asked, worried.

"Nothing. It's just my ear." Blade explained. "What happened to the people inside?"

"Some of them are trapped, but some got out." Ken explained. "I already called for back-up."

Sighing, Blade lied down on the ground. "Good ..."

"Dude, come on. Let's get you to my place. We'll fix your ear." Ken offered.

Just grumbling, Blade stood up and let his friend guide him back towards the car. Just as they got there, back-up had already arrived.

That had been the day that Blade lost one of his ears. However, it would only be a few weeks later that he gained much more respect then ever before.

* * *

**The next chapter is one of my favorites. And the chapter after that is when you find out more about Blade's past and his relationship with his father.**

**Ben 10 Omniverse (c) Cartoon Network**

**'I Am Not A Machine' (c) me.**


	4. Heroes

Chapter 4: Heroes

"Look, all I'm saying is that you shouldn't go jumping into water all the time." Ken said as he and Blade walked down the Bellwood streets. Sometimes people would turn and give them weird looks, or threaten to call animal control, but neither of the teens cared. After all, Blade would become a Plumber soon enough. Then, he could hang his badge around his neck like he hung his watch around there.

"Why not? I seriously don't see your point." Blade commented.

"Not all cats like water. Because you can drown." Kenny explained.

"Well, I'm not too sure about that, but I'm pretty sure that cats can swim better then humans. It's just the fact that most cats don't like getting their fur wet. I just don't like getting water in my ears, is all."

Ken was still unconvinced. "Whatever."

"Honestly, I like water. I just hate fire."

"Really? But you lie by the fire place." Ken said.

"Yeah, but I'm too freaking scared to fall asleep. What if one of the coals jump out of the fire while I'm sleeping and catch my fur on fire? Water can't burn you."

"But you can drown."

"Only if you don't know how to swim. You can fight the water, but you can't fight the fire. You see what I'm saying?" Blade explained.

There was a still silence before Ken broke it. "Wait, how can you even swim? Don't your legs weight a ton?"

"They're surprisingly boyant ..." Blade muttered, as if Ken knew what the word 'boyant' meant.

"Anyway, how's your ear?" Ken asked, changing the subject.

"It's ... there."

"Oh. I see." Ken chuckled.

"I hate dogs ..." Blade growled to himself.

* * *

At some point during that day, the two of them had to take a bus. It took some convincing, but Blade was able to get on. The two of them sat at the front of the bus to aviod dirty glares or running into people. Yet, Blade seemed on edge. He took the window seat, looking outside.

"What is it?" Ken asked, seeing his friend's distress.

"I don't know." Blade replied, still looking outside the window. "But something's not right ..."

"You want to get off?" Ken offered.

"No." his friend replied. "We're fine here."

But they weren't fine there.

At some point during the ride, the bus had been hit head on with another, sending it spiraling down a down hill street. Half way down the street, the bus had screeched head on into the bay below. Naturally, Blade and Ken had been too shocked to move or do anything. So had most of the other passengers. Blade's claws dug into the seat, his mind racing frantically.

"Ken!" Blade suddenly yelled, catching his friend's attention. "Go to the back of the bus. There should be an emergency escape."

"I knew that cat was bad luck!" some grumpy woman growled.

Ken chose to ignore the comment and spring out of his seat, turning towards the back of the bus. He tried yelling to catch the crowd's attention, seeing that the front of the bus was already filling with water and people were frantically yelling and moving around. Ken wasn't much louder then any of them.

Crinkling his nose, Blade stood up on the back on the seat and placed his front paws on the back rest that lied in front of him. He looked around the crowd, and then back at Ken. He was already trying to open the hatch, but he would need help, and the crowd seemed too paniced to help at the moment. Ken wasn't doing any better in getting their attention, either.

The loud sounds of screaming, yelling, and swearing filled Blade's ears. It was almost worse then having water in his ears. Snarling to himself, Blade decided to get everyone's attention himself. Raising his head above as high as he possibly could, he let out a monsterious roar, now knowing he could do so. People instantly fell silent and turned towards the giant cat.

"Hey!" Blade yelled, sounding almost angry.

"It talks ...?" some snickered in the background.

"Yeah, I talk." Blade growled, shutting up anyone whispering. "So, I'm going to say for everyone to CALM DOWN and listen up! Everyone see Ken over there? He's by the emergency exit. If you stop panicing for one moment, then you'll see that he needs help opening it. Someone strong help him open it while everyone else gets ready to file out, or help whoever needs to get out of their seat."

Instantly, people were up moving, again. Blade hadn't expected them to file out nicely, but he didn't expect them to go out towards Ken in a mass mob. Well, at least Ken now had someone strong helping him open the back door. Once the door was open, people flung themselves out and into the water, mothers taking their children closely behind.

Blade stayed in his seat, watching as the front of the bus continued to fill. Suddenly, something hit him. "Ken!"

"Yeah?" Ken called over the noise. "What is it?"

"Where's the driver?"

Not answering back, Blade snarled to himself for being so stupid and launched himself to the front of the bus, instantly getting his paws and legs wet. He didn't care, though. The first thing that caught his eye was a girl sitting in her seat, still. She looked frightened to see the cat approaching, but she just kept still, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Blade stopped by her seat for a moment. "Hello. It's time to get out, now."

The girl just swallowed. "But I don't know where my mommy is ..."

"She's probably outside the bus, already." Blade assured the best he could. Turning, he saw that Ken was still by the back of the bus, glancing over the seats to see if his best friend was still alright. Blade turned back to the girl. "You see that guy over there? In the green and black shirt?"

The girl took a moment to find Ken, but she nodded.

"Alright." Blade said quickly. "You go to him. His name is Ken. He'll help you out and he'll help find your mommy. He's a nice guy, okay?"

The girl wasn't all convinced, but she nodded and started making her way to the back of the bus. When she got to Ken and explained she was looking for her mother, Ken looked back down at Blade with frightened eyes.

"Come on, man!" Ken yelled. "We've got to go!"

"I still need to find the driver!" Blade yelled, making his way to the front of the bus. "Just get everyone out! I'll be there in a minute!"

Not looking to check his friend's expression, Blade kept moving on. The front of the bus was completely covered in water, but through the water, he could see the front driver's seat. He doggy paddled forward and ducked his head under, knowing he would need to go under to see everything. Once he was under, he instantly saw the driver still attacted to their seat. Blade didn't waste any time in swimming forward, tugging at the straps with his claws. The seat belt was tough and he wasn't able to pull it, so he looked down towards the buckle, chewing on it with his teeth until it gave away. The driver seemed to float upward, so Blade moved his body under the man's and tugged him along, keeping the person's head above water.

Once he surfaced, Blade gasped for air, but was horrified to see that that back of the bus was already sinking down. The roof of the bus was nearly caved down on top of Blade.

"Blade!" Ken yelled from outside. "Blade, are you in there?"

Blade tried to call back, but when he opened his mouth, it instantly filled with water. Choking up the water, he continued to doggy paddle to the back of the bus with the driver on his back, nearly weighting him down. Feeling the bus sink lower, Blade began to silently panic. He wasn't sure if the driver would ever come to, but he needed to get him out, nevertheless.

Just as Blade got to the back door, more water rushed in from the back, getting Blade's head wet and making him yowl in fright. When he shook his head and opened his eyes, he was even more horrified to see that the back door had been slammed shut by the rushing water. His mind instantly started to race.

Without really thinking, Blade just started making his way out to the windows, swimming as hard as he could, even if his back legs were starting to get tired. He was thankful that his front ones never did get worn out.

All the windows that Blade passed were closed. He began to panic more and more as he went and the bus continued to fill with water. However, suddenly remembering his lessons, Blade made sure to kept clam and not let himself panic. So, he kept searching for an open window. Soon enough, he came across a window that was open. It was dipped underwater.

Grabbing the man's shirt collar between his, Blade dove underwater towards the open window. The current of water flowing in held him back, but he used his strong front legs to paddle on. He was quickly running out of breath, but he kept moving. Soon enough, he made it to the window, pushing the man through and following closely behind. He swam under the man and lifted him to the surface.

Blade continued to doggy paddle towards the shore, his strength slowly draining from his body. However, just when he felt like he was going to completely go limp, he felt the weight suddenly lift off his shoulders. He gasped for air, but his throat was only filled with more water. When he thought he was just going to let himself sink down to the ground, he felt arms wrap around him and slowly lift him up.

Opening his eyes and choking up water, Blade saw it was Ken. His expression was frightened as he pulled Blade further out of the water. Helping, Blade paddled with the last of his strength to get to shore, where he lied in mud and concrete. He felt hands grasp at his scruff, which made him weakly growl, not used to being grabbed or dragged by his scruff. The last time he was grabbed by his neck skin was when he was a little kit.

"Blade? Oh God ..." Ken's voice drifted in and out, until it was fully lost.

* * *

**Ben 10 Omniverse (c) Cartoon Network**

**'I Am Not A Machine' (c) me.**


End file.
